"I think I might have fared much worse," said Gudbrand; "but whether I have fared well or ill, I have such a kind wife that she never says anything, no matter what I do." "Aye, so you say; but you won't get me to believe it," said the neighbor. "Shall we have a wager on it?" said Gudbrand. "I have a hundred dollars in my chest at home. Will you lay the same?" So they made the wager and Gudbrand remained there till the evening, when it began to get dark, and then they went together to the farm. The neighbor was to remain outside the door and listen while Gudbrand went in to his wife. "Good evening!" said Gudbrand when he came in. "Good evening!" said the wife. "Heaven be praised you are back again." "Yes, here I am!" said the man. And then the wife asked him how he had got on in town. "Oh, so-so," answered Gudbrand. "Not much to brag of. When I came to town no one would buy the cow, so I changed it for a horse." "Oh, I'm so glad of that," said the woman. "We are pretty well off and we ought to drive to church like other people, and when we can afford to keep a horse I don't see why we should not have one. Run out, children, and put the horse in the stable." "Well, I haven't got the horse, after all," said Gudbrand; "for when I had got a bit on the way I changed it for a pig." "Dear me!" cried the woman, "that's the very thing I should have done myself. I'm so glad of that, for now we can have some bacon in the house and something to offer people when they come to see us. What do we want with a horse? People would only say we had become so grand that we could no longer walk to church. Run out, children, and let the pig in." "But I haven't got the pig either," said Gudbrand, "for when I had got a bit farther on the road I changed it into a milch goat." "Dear! dear! how well you manage everything!" cried the wife. "When I really come to think of it, what do I want with the pig? People would only say: 'Over yonder they eat up everything they have.' No, now I have a goat I can have both milk and cheese and keep the goat into the bargain. Let in the goat, children." "But I haven't got the goat either," said Gudbrand. "When I got a bit on the way I changed the goat and got a fine sheep for it." "Well!" returned the woman, "you do everything just as I should wish it--just as if I had been there myself. What do we want with a goat? I should have to climb up hill and down dale to get it home at night. No, when I have a sheep I can have wool and clothes in the house and food as well. Run out, children, and let in the sheep." "But I haven't got the sheep any longer," said Gudbrand, "for when I had got a bit on the way I changed it for a goose."